


Board Game Nights

by Okikage



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Apples to Apples, Assumptions, Board Games, Crushes, Epic Friendship, Feelings Realization, Food Porn, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, M/M, Miniature Games, Misunderstandings, Movie Night, Party Games, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues, The Fox and the Hound (1981) References, Therapy, Trivial Pursuit, Video & Computer Games, puerto rico board game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23665342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okikage/pseuds/Okikage
Summary: The younger chosen play board games thoughout their middle and high school years. 5 times Daisuke hosted, plus one time he and Ken play 1v1 at Ken's place.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya
Comments: 31
Kudos: 19
Collections: Daiken 5+1 Challenge, Daiken Discord Server





	1. Trivial Pursuit

Daisuke bustled around his family’s kitchen, getting together too many snacks for the Chosen board game night. He occasionally went to the stovetop to check the simmering sauce and onion mixture and the temperature of the oil he was heating for some tonkatsu.

It was his first time hosting their monthly game night and everything had to be perfect.

The oil finally reached the right temperature, boiling away in the low, wide pan. Daisuke carefully placed the breaded cutlets inside, watching as they browned.

He didn’t quite time everything right and his sauce was ready for the cutlets, but they were still cooking. Daisuke did his best to slow down any more caramelizing of the onions, hoping they didn’t get overdone.

Cooking was always fun but sometimes, like now, when Ken and everyone else would be eating  _ his _ katsudon for the first time, it was also nerve-wracking. He finally got the cutlets out and drained, cutting them with quick slashes and sliding them into the sauce, topping it all with the egg he’d lightly beaten earlier.

He couldn’t help watching as all the ingredients came together, even though he should really finish getting out the chips and cookies and various other snacks. When the egg had reached a perfect semi-cooked consistency, Daisuke got to work, spooning a serving each onto the tops of six bowls of rice, covering them to keep them warm. They  _ looked _ good, but that didn’t mean much and Daisuke itched to take a bite, just to check. Instead he about faced and poured a bag of chips into a bowl.

The doorbell rang, and Daisuke vaulted to the entranceway. He wrenched the door open, and sure enough, Ken was there. “Hey! Come on in!”

“Hello.” Ken toed off his shoes and slipped into a pair of guest slippers, practically his pair. Daisuke followed Ken to the living room and eyed the bag he brought.

“What did you bring?”

“Oh...nothing much. Just a game I pulled out of my closet.” Ken ducked his head and curled up on the couch, tucking his legs under himself. Daisuke watched him ever so slowly relax and smiled.

“That’s cool. Want anything to drink?”

“Just some water would be nice.”

By the time he’d pulled a bottle from the fridge and tossed it to Ken, the bell was ringing again, and Daisuke let in the gaggle of Iori, Miyako and Takeru, who had walked from their apartment complex together. When they entered the Motomiya’s living room, Ken’s feet hit the floor and he sat up straight, giving them a small wave. Miyako stole the chip bowl from the counter and set it on the table, idly chomping on them.

“My grandfather bought me a new game since hearing about our board game nights.” Iori pulled out a mottled blue box and set it next to the chips, and Daisuke craned his neck to get a look at the title.

'Trivial Pursuit’. Daisuke frowned. Trivia games were not his forte. He glanced towards Ken and he was leaning forward, eyes sparkling with interest. Well, if Ken wanted to play it wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe they could be on a team.

Hikari was the last to arrive, looking a bit disheveled.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, Daisuke-kun!” She brushed a hand through her hair, trying to set it right again. “I was helping my mother with something and the time just got away from me.”

“It’s totally fine, Hikari-chan! Everybody else is in the living room, let’s go!”

Daisuke took a detour into the kitchen to pick up the tray of bowls, giving them one last look over. They seemed okay, and were still warm, so he marched into the living room and took a deep breath.

“I made katsudon!”

The gathered children took a bowl each and murmured their thanks, and Daisuke watched as they took bites, his own bowl untouched in his lap as he took his usual seat next to Ken. Takeru nodded perfunctorily, while Miyako had her eyes closed and was chewing thoughtfully. Daisuke focused on Hikari, who took a bite and gave him a thumbs up.

Then he looked at Ken. Ken took a bite out of the Katsu, and moaned. Daisuke couldn’t stop staring at how Ken took small, delicate bites, the way his lips wrapped around the chopsticks, the delight apparent on his face.

“This is really good, Daisuke-kun.” Takeru called from his other side and Daisuke was broken out of his spell.

“You think? I just threw it together.”

“We should have board game nights at your place every weekend if you’re going to cook like this!” Hikari gushed, but the expected flush of feelings didn’t come. Daisuke was definitely happy, but there weren’t overwhelming butterflies like he was expecting.

“I really like it.” Ken put his nearly-finished bowl on the table and Daisuke flushed, looking down at his own untouched bowl.

Miyako glanced at his bowl and laughed. “Oh I see, we were your guinea pigs before you took a bite.”

“No! I just - shut up!” Daisuke began to hound down his food as the others helped Iori unpack his game, setting it up on the low table. Takeru helped Daisuke take the finished bowls back to the kitchen and stack them in the sink for washing later.

“I’m impressed, Daisuke-kun.”

“Why?” Daisuke shot a suspicious glance in Takeru’s direction.

“You managed to take a compliment from Hikari-chan without getting weird about it.” Takeru opened Daisuke’s fridge like he lived there. “Okay if I take this soda?”

“I don’t ‘get weird’ around Hikari-chan.”

Takeru popped the top of the soda before waiting for a proper answer. “Sure you don’t.”

Daisuke fumed as they returned to the other room, where everyone now sat on the floor and deliberately sat on Ken’s other side as a buffer to get away from Takeru. Ken leaned incrementally close to him.

“What color do you want?”

“Blue, duh!”

Iori started, since it was his game and he was the youngest. He landed on a geography question.

“Okay, Iori-kun,” Miyako cleared her throat after drawing the card. “Does India have more christians, sikhs or buddhists?”

Daisuke boggled. How was that even a geography question?

“Well, it is the birthplace of Buddhism, so I’d have to say that.”

Miyako turned over the card and squealed. “Really? There’s more christians?”

Iori sighed and Miyako tossed the die, getting a one. She groaned. “Unlucky! At least I get to pick my category.”

She moved to science, and Daisuke picked up the card and read. “Uh...what was the last name of the inventor of the centigrade system?”

“Celsius!” Miyako shouted, clapping her hands together. “Celsius, Celsius, yes!”

Sure enough, Miyako was right and she rolled again. She moved to history and Daisuke read another card.

“Why are the Norwegian and Icelandic flags similar?”

Miyako blanched. “I don’t...even know what they look like. Heh.”

It was Daisuke’s turn. He moved to sports, banking on his soccer knowledge.

Ken picked up the card and asked in his clear, crisp voice, “Which side of a boat is port?”

_ That _ was a  _ sport _ question? This game made no sense to Daisuke. “The...left?”

“That’s right.” Ken smiled at him and Daisuke cheered.

“Yes! I totally guessed right!”

He moved to entertainment, hoping for a better question.

“What car was featured in the 1977 movie ‘Smokey and the Bandit’?” Ken asked, and Daisuke stared at him with a blank look.

“Is that some American movie? Uhh, a - Mazda?” He named the first car he could remember, and then realized it would probably be an American car company and slapped his hand to his face.

“Nope, sorry. Good try, though.” Ken rolled the dice and Takeru read him a geography question.

“Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in what country?”

Not  _ that _ was a geography question! Daisuke didn’t  _ know _ what country that was but it was definitely in the category, unlike the weird religion one.

“Greece,” Ken answered smoothly and managed to land on the pie piece square.

“Who discovered the neutron and in what year?”

Daisuke smiled. That was  _ hard _ , Ken wasn’t going to get -

“James Chadwick in 1932.” Ken shifted uncomfortably as Miyako whistled at him.

“How’d you know that?”

Ken merely shrugged and moved to entertainment.

“Can you keep up the streak? How many marines were sent to fight the aliens in the movie ‘Aliens’?” Takeru asked and Ken visibly relaxed.

“I don’t know.”

“C’mon, take a guess at least! Just pick a number.”

Ken brought a finger to his lips, pouting cutely. “Seven?”

“Nope! But good try.”

The game continued, and Daisuke couldn’t  _ believe _ some of these questions. He expected some to be randomly way harder than others, but sometimes a question wouldn’t even seem to fit the category it was supposedly a part of.

Ken was insanely good. He knew almost everything, and basically only got the entertainment questions wrong. Daisuke had no idea why he kept landing on them when there was usually a choice for another category.

They ended up with Ken in the lead, only missing the entertainment pie piece, the others with 3 or 4 each, and Daisuke with - sports. These just weren’t his kind of game.

Ken didn’t  _ look _ very happy about leading, either. Daisuke doubted any of the others noticed, but Ken’s eyes were way too big, and his hands were clenched instead of just resting lightly on his thighs.

“You’re lucky, Ichijouji-kun! This is an easy one, maybe you’ll actually get it.” Takeru elbowed Ken and Daisuke felt a flash of irritation. “In Monsters Inc. who is big and tall with blue fur and purple spots?”

Ken flushed. “I don’t know.”

“What? But the dub’s been out for like a year and a half,” Miyako said. “You seriously haven’t seen it?”

“I don’t - didn’t - I haven’t really seen many movies.” Ken fidgeted, his blush only growing.

Daisuke suddenly had a great idea. “You should stay the night and we can have a movie marathon tomorrow!”

“I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s no problem, you can borrow from me again.”

In the end, Ken’s inability to answer a single pop culture question had Miyako surpassing him and winning the game.

“Yeah!” Miyako danced around the group. “That was really fun!”

Daisuke stared at his piece, with two slices. So what if he didn’t know science, or history, or geography? So what if the general knowledge questions were all over the place, none of which he knew? It was fine.

They played cards for a bit after, late into the evening. Hikari finally looked at the clock and gasped.

“Is it that late already?”

The others shuffled out, leaving just Ken on Daisuke’s couch. It was lucky he’d already called his parents and asked to stay over, because it was definitely too late to head back to Tamachi by himself.

“Wanna get started tonight?”

“Huh?” Ken startled, looking dazed. “Start what?”

“Movies! I’ve got all the Disney VHSes.”

“Oh. Sure. You pick.”

Daisuke put in his favorite, The Fox and the Hound. He could recite it at this point, which just left him time to watch Ken’s reactions. Ken absorbed himself in watching, letting out tiny gasps of surprise and and nibbling on his lips. Ken’s reactions were way more interesting than the movie right now.

Then Ken started tearing up.

Daisuke scrambled to pause the movie, grabbing a tissue box from the counter and handing it to Ken. “It gets pretty heavy, huh?”

Ken dabbed at his face, and somehow his eyes looked even prettier with the shine of tears. “This is your  _ favorite _ movie, Daisuke? Everything that happens to Tod is so terrible.”

“Well.” Daisuke sat back down, putting a comforting hand on Ken’s knee. “Bad things happen, but he gets through it and overcomes even the worst because of friendship.”

Ken wiped his nose, shying away from Daisuke. “Copper doesn’t deserve his friendship.”

“Of course he does!” Daisuke couldn’t stand that slander of a cartoon dog, he grasped Ken’s hands and leaned into his downturned face. “He’s just got some bad influences, he totally deserves to have a friend.”

“Daisuke...” Ken looked up through his long lashes, making eye contact. “Thank you.”

Daisuke had no idea what he was being thanked for. “No problem! Let’s finish, and keep those tissues ready for me too.”


	2. Apples to Apples

It was the younger Chosen’s first board game night of the new school year, and Daisuke was eager to show off his improved baking skills. He had already whipped the egg whites, setting them off to the side as he combined the other ingredients. This cake was going to be  _ so good _ , he could feel it.

Definitely it would be better than the test cakes he’d fed to Ken over the past week, who always said they were ‘wonderful’ and not garbage. Which many of them were.

The wet and dry ingredients were all together, and Daisuke began folding the egg whites in. Ken would be really good at this part. He hadn’t gotten Ken to do much in the kitchen, but when he did it was always with such a gentle hand. Even when you needed to be rougher. It was really cute, and so very Ken that Daisuke wasn’t even mad about it.

He poured a thin layer of the batter and jostled the pan until it was even, popping it into the oven and settling down to wait, checking his new flip phone for messages. He smiled when he saw one from Ken, but the contents had him frowning.

_ Going to be a little late tonight. Don’t wait to start. _

Like heck they weren’t going to wait. Whatever had Ken running late couldn’t be  _ that _ bad.

The oven dinged and Daisuke immediately upturned the pan onto some parchment paper and rolled up the cake to let it cool. He tapped out a quick reply to Ken.

_ What’s up? We don’t mind waiting _

A reply came back quite fast for Ken.

_ Just because you don’t mind doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t _

Daisuke sighed. Ken could be so dense sometimes, of course his  _ friends _ didn’t mind waiting for him.

The cake was looking good, no big cracks or breaks, and Daisuke declared it a success as he spread a layer of cream on top before rolling it back up, topping it with a few more dollops of cream and some strawberries.

Well it certainly  _ looked _ pretty.

Daisuke found himself pacing his own kitchen, waiting longer than usual for anyone to arrive and sending furtive glances towards the roll cake. He itched to try it, and scratched that itch by licking some of the batter out of the mixing bowl. That seemed fine at least.

The doorbell sent Daisuke barreling to check who it was. Hikari stood outside, holding a bag of snacks and a box under her arm. “Hello, Daisuke-kun.”

“Hey Hikari-chan! You’re the first to arrive.”

Hikari’s eyes widened. “Ichijouji-kun isn’t here yet?”

“He’s caught up in something.”

Hikari hummed in assent, floating into the apartment. Daisuke tried to be excited he was alone with her, but it shouldn’t be as hard as it was.

“Have you been settling into middle school alright?” Hikari asked as she sat on the couch where Ken usually sat.

“The uniforms -“

“Are so terrible, yes, you’ve said so every day. I meant academically, we never talk about that.”

Daisuke took in a sharp breath. “They’re fine.”

Hikari raised one eyebrow. “The English lessons have been really different. I kind of miss Elementary lessons.”

“Yeah, me too.” They didn’t grade your English in elementary school. You got an A as long as you participated at all. It was one of Daisuke’s best subjects for that reason, he wasn’t afraid to be an idiot in front of the whole class.

Had been one of his best subjects.

“I can’t wait for soccer club to start up, though!” Daisuke jumped and mimicked a powerful kick. “I’ve been practicing my elastico!”

Hikari laughed and Daisuke ducked his head, blushing. “You and Onii-chan are ridiculous.”

Daisuke didn’t see how being really into soccer was ridiculous. Ken understood, he even helped him practice and defended to give him a chance against a real opponent. Ken would listen to him ramble about how awful uniforms were even though he’d had to wear one all through elementary school too.

The doorbell and arrival of the other building’s group sent Daisuke away from Hikari, welcoming the others in and telling them about Ken being late. They all agreed to wait for him, of course, and Miyako pulled out a small red box with cartoony red and green apples on it.

“It’s really fun! You have to match up what cards you think fit a prompt! And we all get to decide what that means.”

Daisuke rifled through a couple of the red cards, they really were a bunch of random words. This game seemed like a lot of fun, and right up Daisuke’s alley.

They chatted together while waiting for Ken, and Daisuke played the good host, getting everyone drinks and placing down a bowl of popcorn for them to snack on.

Twenty minutes into their unofficial start time, the door buzzed for a third time and Daisuke vibrated, greeting Ken with a big hug that had Ken stiffening under his hands.

“Good to finally see you!”

“Daisuke, we hung out after school yesterday.” Ken set down his overnight bag just inside the entraceway, raising an eyebrow at Daisuke.

“Well yeah, but it’s always good to see you. Help me with the cake for everyone.” Daisuke led Ken into the kitchen and sliced the roll into six roughly equal pieces, commanding Ken to plate them and he obediently followed along. Daisuke watched as Ken pushed his hair behind his ears, and itched for  _ something _ . Ken’s hair was getting longer, he should really get a haircut. That was probably it, remember to tell Ken to get a haircut. But not too short, he liked the way it fell and framed his face.

“I made cake!” Daisuke announced to the living room, setting a plate in front of each of his friends.

“Oh my goodness, this is like the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” Miyako dug into her piece with gusto she usually reserved for her mom’s desserts, and Daisuke beamed with pride, but he couldn’t stop watching Ken, who had a fork halfway in his mouth and a blissful look on his face, his eyes shut.

“You might actually make a good cook, Daisuke-kun.” Takeru jabbed at him and he pulled away from staring at Ken’s face.

“Of course I will!”

“What were you playing before I came in?” Ken asked.

“We hadn’t started anything,” Hikari said. “We were waiting for you.”

Ken blushed and Daisuke went back to staring. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It wouldn’t have been fun to try and squeeze you in the middle of a game, Ichijouji-kun.”

They settled around the table, setting a pile of green and a pile of red cards beside each other as Miyako rambled the basics of the game to Ken, leaning into his personal space and Daisuke could see the lines of discomfort on his face.

Iori shuffled the cards and dealt out seven to each of them with sharp efficiency. “Who should go first?”

“Hmm, Ken didn’t get the extended explanation, he should be the first judge.”

Ken flipped over a green card, revealing the word, “Engaging.”

Daisuke considered his options. Milk was kind of funny in an absurd way, but Ken probably wouldn’t go for it. Ghosts were definitely engaging, he flipped through his cards -

My Love Life. Yes. Perfect.

He put the card face down in the growing pile, and when all five of them had picked Ken read them out in turn.

“So, I have - grass skirts, sumo wrestlers, cell phones, a good education and...my love life.” Ken had a light blush on his cheeks. “How do I pick one?”

“Just pick which one you think is most  _ engaging _ .” Miyako wiggled her fingers in emphasis.

“I guess...out of these, I’d have to pick a good education.”

“Yes!” Miyako took her point and then it was Daisuke’s turn.

“High and Mighty.”

“You,” Takeru said with a huffing laugh. “Too bad I don’t have that card.”

Daisuke shot him a dirty look and waited for the other’s cards. Ken took a long time to choose.

“Yo, Ken, it’s okay if you don’t have anything good. Just put whatever down.” Daisuke clapped him on the shoulder.

“...Okay.” Ken slipped a card into the pile and Daisuke shuffled it to make it fair, since he knew Ken’s was on top now.

“We’ve got - focus groups, psychics - hah - the IRS, aluminum siding? And the Mensa high IQ society.” Daisuke spread the cards out and knew. “Definitely those IQ guys, how arrogant can you be?”

“My point.” Iori took the green card.

The game continued, and Iori was  _ weirdly _ good at it. Maybe it was just good cards, but his answers were either totally on point or just  _ really funny _ . When he put down “Angry Hornets” for Cuddly literally everyone, including Ken, laughed out loud.

Daisuke has his own respectable pile of green cards, but Ken was clearly the weak player at this game. He had only two green cards, for his Tormented Myself and Horrifying Saunas.

Iori won round one easily, and they moved onto round two.

Daisuke was having a good time, but by far the best part was getting to see Ken smiling and laughing. He didn’t do it nearly enough for Daisuke’s taste, and he was duty-bound as Ken’s best friend to cajole more out of him at any opportunity.

The group played two more rounds after, until everyone left for the night, barring Ken, of course, who always stayed over when it was Daisuke’s turn to host now.

“You up for anymore gaming?” Daisuke pulled out his PlayStation, waving two controllers in the air.

“Ah, I’ll just watch, if you don’t mind?”

“I can show you the new Dragon Quest game, it just came out!”

Daisuke popped in the CD and concentrated on the game, registering Ken sitting beside him on the floor. As he got deeper in, he noticed Ken leaning on him, his head awkwardly bent toward Daisuke’s shoulder. Daisuke shifted so that Ken looked slightly less uncomfortable, his own head cuddling the top of Ken’s.

It felt really nice. He had to remember to tell Ken to get a haircut, though.


	3. Puerto Rico

Daisuke eyed the six plates of rice he’d put together with trepidation. It was time for the hard part.

He checked the heat of his pan, hovering his hand just above the bottom and feeling as it simmered, waiting for the right moment. He stirred the bowl of beaten eggs one more time, before ladling a generous amount into the pan.

The immediate bubbling of the eggs was music to Daisuke’s ears. He used his chopsticks to shake around the liquid as it quickly solidified, and maybe there was just a bit too much heat because it was going too fast. Daisuke pulled the pan off the flame and tried to get it into the right shape, recover. He gently flipped it, and it was definitely too well done.

Oh well. That would be Takeru’s.

The second omelette went better, Daisuke letting the pan cool down a bit. He started to get into the groove of scrambling, shaking the pan back and forth with his scraping. He shaped it and realized that it wasn’t quite scrambled enough. Better, not overdone, but not perfect.

The next omelette was great, if a bit lopsided. He was really getting into it now, getting in the rhythm of shaking and stirring and gently flipping, and quickly ran through the latter half of the omelettes. His final one was  _ perfect _ , and Daisuke set that one aside for Ken.

Speaking of Ken, Daisuke’s bell rang and he ran to open the door.

“Hey, Ken!”

Ken was wearing a tight grey button-up, fiddling with the strap of his bag absentmindedly. “Hello.”

Ken glided into the apartment like water. Daisuke followed after, watching as Ken’s thin hair waved in the slight air conditioning. It was still a bit long, and Daisuke felt the inexplicable urge to run his fingers through the black-blue locks.

“What did you make for dinner?” Ken asked after he returned from Daisuke’s room, sans his usual overnight bag.

“Omurice!” Daisuke flicked off the cover of the closest plate with a flourish. “What do you think?”

Ken’s mouth quirked up on one side. “Looks delicious.”

“Hopefully it tastes delicious too!”

“I’m sure it will. Everything you make is amazing.”

Daisuke chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. Ken always complimented him on silly little things, and it did weird stuff to his chest. 

“So what do you want to do while we wait?”

Ken shrugged. “Tell me how you’ve been?”

“Oh hey, did I tell you about my new game?”

Daisuke spent the next five minutes talking Ken’s ear off about his latest fighting game, how he’d been practicing a particularly tricky combo and finally gotten it pretty consistent. Ken nodded and followed along, ever attentive despite his complete lack of knowledge on the subject, and Daisuke felt self-conscious.

“What about you?”

“Oh...I haven’t been doing much besides studying. I’m not very interesting.” Ken wrung his hands together.

Daisuke cocked an eyebrow. “Not interesting? Don’t be stupid, that’s my job.”

Ken’s face darkened. “Don’t say that.”

“I’m just saying the truth.”

“Daisuke.” Ken grabbed his hand and Daisuke jumped, staring at him. “Nobody insults my best friend.”

Ken’s face was so close. His intense eyes were laser-focused on Daisuke. “Okay.”

They fell back into an easy conversation, and Daisuke managed to wheedle out of Ken that he had started some kind of painting hobby, but he wouldn’t say more about it. Daisuke really wanted to see his paintings, he was sure they would be as gorgeous as him.

Hikari arrived next, holding a very fancy-looking box with an island scene on the front. “Hello Daisuke-kun, I brought a game today.”

“That’s great, Hikari-chan!” Daisuke led Hikari into the living room and she settled next to Ken no problem, starting up a quiet, intimate conversation.

Daisuke felt bile bubbling up inside him. How did Ken get so comfortable with Hikari? How did Hikari get so close with Ken? He was the one close with Ken! He turned away and sulked in the kitchen until the rest of the group arrived.

Miyako and Iori helped him with the plates of omurice, and Miyako body checked him in the doorway between his hall and kitchen.

“What’s got you all moody?”

“Nothing.”

Miyako merely gave him an unimpressed glare.

“Ugh, fine, do you know when Ken and Hikari-chan got so chummy?”

“Ken hasn’t told you?” Miyako’s question only made Daisuke’s stomach get more clenched.

“Didn’t tell me what?”

“Let’s go eat.” Miyako stepped back and retreated to the whole group.

Daisuke tried to push the fact that Ken wasn’t telling him something to the back of his mind, settling in next to Ken and placing the Perfect Omurice in front of him. The way Ken’s face lit up in joy as he took a bite of the fluffy, light omelette made Daisuke’s brain short circuit. Ken moaned just loudly enough for Daisuke to hear sitting next to him, and he had to look away.

“Amazing as always, Daisuke-kun,” Hikari said from her spot across the table. She took a dainty bite of the rice, and Daisuke pouted.

What did Hikari have that Daisuke didn’t? Other than smarts and understanding and being a girl - no. Ken would have told him  _ first _ if they were dating. He would have asked Daisuke if it was okay to go after her at all. Ken noticed Daisuke’s pout, and raised an eyebrow.

“Daisuke?”

“So what are we playing tonight, Hikari-chan?” Daisuke finished off his omurice in a too-big bite.

“Oh, it’s so much fun! It’s called Puerto Rico. We don’t  _ have _ to play, especially since it’s five player so we’d have to have a two-person team...”

Ken covered Daisuke’s hand. “Would you like to be on a team with me?”

And how could he say no to that?

The plates were replaced by island playing boards, the main play area set up by Hikari with its million fiddly little pieces and five different colors of markers and several cards with boats on them. Hikari was explaining the different actions they could take each turn, seven different with two duplicates of one. There was farming and building and shipping and trading, which were apparently two different things, and it was all pretty overwhelming. Daisuke scooted closer to Ken’s side, drinking in his warmth.

“You know you’re gonna be making most of the decisions, right?”

“I think you’ll get it once we start playing. And I value your opinion, you have a sharp commander’s eye.”

Ken had to stop saying stuff like that or Daisuke was going to get a fever.

After about 20 minutes of explanation and setup, they were finally ready to start.

“Janken for first?”

Ken sat out the shouting of, “Rock Scissors Papers, one two three!”

Daisuke was triumphant with his scissors along with Takeru and Miyako, Hikari and Iori cut into pieces. The second round found Takeru bowing out, crushed by Miyako and Daisuke’s rocks. And finally, Daisuke reigned supreme and won the right to first player for himself and Ken.

“What do you think?” Ken asked.

“Hmmm, settling for a quarry would be nice, but building for cheaper is probably the best? We could get the construction hut and get a quarry anyway.”

Ken nodded. “Sound strat.”

Everyone built their choice and it wrapped back around to Takeru, who chose Mayor. The game continued around, Hikari choosing settler. Ken and Daisuke were able to use their building to pick up a quarry just as planned. Daisuke loved when a plan worked out.

“I’m picking production!” Miyako declared and Daisuke realized that she was the only one who was even able to make something, picking up two barrels of corn. She smirked and struck a pose.

Iori was forced as the last in the cycle to pick up some money from prospector.

The game continued, each round Ken prodding Daisuke to give his opinion. They didn’t always follow what he thought, but Ken always listened and explained why he wanted to do something different until Daisuke at least sort of understood. After a few rounds, despite the scary amount of complications spread across so many parts, Daisuke felt like he was getting the hang of it.

He definitely wouldn’t be doing as well if he wasn’t paired up with his partner. He needed Ken.

It was extremely hard to tell who was  _ winning _ , though. Everyone seemed kind of even, despite the fact that Miyako had like 2 buildings and Takeru’s city was half filled and Iori had way more plantations than anyone else. Math was not Daisuke’s strong suit, and he didn’t even know how to start to compare all the different things one could count.

“What do you think, Daisuke? Should we build?”

“We’ve got these tobacco plantations just sitting empty, shouldn’t we get captain?”

“I was thinking we could get the tobacco storage and immediately be able to start producing that tobacco since one of the others is definitely going to get captain?”

“Oh. Oh, yeah, let’s do that.” It made way more sense to do it in that direction. Daisuke was starting to reach his limit.

They were reaching the endgame. Daisuke and Ken were sitting on a nice pile of money from a particularly lucrative coffee sale and trying to decide what double building would net them the most points, and went with the one that gave points for buildings. Iori had way too many plantations, so his choice was obvious, and Takeru had a bunch of extra settlers he was taking advantage of. Daisuke still wasn’t sure how they all stacked up, everyone’s board looked too different.

But he trusted Ken, and he had to trust his own instincts. They at least seemed to be in a good place.

After about two hours, they finally ran out of settlers and started tallying their points. Raw Victory Points found Miyako in the lead, with her engine of corn plantations and wharf shipping them off, but Takeru’s giant city netted him a lot. Ken tallied up everyone’s points on a piece of paper, and smiled.

“We won, Daisuke.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah, see? We have 49 total, Miyako-san got 46, Takeru-kun 43, Iori-kun 42 and Hikari-chan...33? Are you sure about that one, Hikari-chan?”

“Unfortunately. You guys really outmaneuvered me on this one.” She smirked, however. “I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah!” Daisuke pumped his fist into the air. “You were awesome, Ken!”

“We worked well together.”

“Now that I think about it,” Takeru piped up, “That was kind of unfair, huh? We didn’t stand a chance with the two of you working together.”

“What? No! Ken would totally have kicked your ass by himself!”

Ken grabbed his elbow. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

That was right. Ken was his best friend, his Jogress partner, his. His. Daisuke wanted to kiss him.

Wait.

What?

Daisuke said his goodbyes to the others as they filed out of his apartment, waved goodbye as they waited for the elevator at the end of the corridor. Which left just Ken in his living room. Who he apparently wanted to kiss.

Looking at Ken, who had relaxed considerably once the others had left, legs tucked up under himself, Daisuke realized. Of  _ course _ he wanted to kiss Ken. Who wouldn't?

Hikari maybe already was. Daisuke had to investigate.

“So.” He sat down next to Ken, trying his best to be nonchalant. “You and Hikari-chan seemed pretty close tonight.”

Ken blushed and that was a bad sign. “We’ve gotten a lot closer this year, since...well. She helped me with something important.”

“What was that?”

“I...I’ve been...seeing a therapist. Hikari-chan helped me find one.”

Oh.

“So...that’s going well?”

“Yeah.” Ken bowed his head and tucked his hair behind his ears and Daisuke wanted to do the same.

“But I’m still your best friend, right?”

“You’ll always be my best friend, Daisuke.” Ken leaned in his direction and put his head on Daisuke’s shoulder, a favorite cuddling spot of his. Daisuke only just realized how close Ken’s body was in this position right this second.

He wrapped his arm around Ken and pulled him closer, stopping himself from running his fingers up and down Ken’s arm. That probably wasn’t platonic anymore.

“Best friends tell each other everything, right?”

Ken stiffened in his arms. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner, but. I was embarrassed.”

“You don’t gotta be embarrassed.”

“You just.” Ken entwined their fingers on Daisuke’s arm slung around his shoulder. “You have it so  _ together _ and I’m a mess.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve definitely got that backwards.”

Ken gave him a tiny glare. “You are  _ not _ a mess.”

“Can we both agree that neither of us are a mess then?” Daisuke’s gaze slid from Ken’s eyes down to his lips, soft and thin.

Ken looked like he wanted to continue arguing that point, but ground out, “Fine.”

Daisuke didn’t realize how hard sleeping in the same room as Ken would be after his personal revelation, but when they laid down, Ken on the guest futon, his breaths even and calming, Daisuke couldn’t sleep. Not without thinking about Ken, how he could reach out and touch him if he wanted to, how close he was.

Daisuke was fucked.


	4. Twister

The line of nigiri slowly grew as Daisuke put together the strips of salmon, tuna and yellowtail. Ken’s favorites. Ken was supposed to stay over again tonight, and just like every other time he had since Daisuke was a mess.

He was shocked Ken hadn’t called him on his weird behavior yet. He wanted to say something. He should. He’d literally told Ken best friends didn’t keep secrets, and then he had for  _ months _ . Ken deserved to know he was platonically cuddling with someone who wanted so much more now.

But if he did, maybe Ken would stop. Daisuke wouldn't even get those brief moments of affection from him. He would be left alone and bereft with nothing but a dashed four year friendship.

The sushi was done, completely on autopilot. Luckily it was simple enough to do that after the initial prep. He checked the game he’d brought out for everyone, and chuckled. It was the perfect cover, really.

No one would think twice about him getting all tangled up with Ken when  _ everyone _ was tangled together. Then after, when he and Ken were alone, he could confess how good it felt, and they’d kiss.

That was the plan. He just had to go through with it, really.

Ken arrived, and Daisuke followed him into his room this time, watching as Ken placed his bag at the foot of Daisuke’s bed where he always did, then turned and widened his eyes to see Daisuke still there. He sat on Daisuke’s bed and looked  _ right _ with his silly button-up shirt, a pale yellow today, that Daisuke imagined sliding off and revealing Ken’s shoulder -

“Something up, Daisuke?” Ken cocked his head to the side, his perfect hair draping down to just brush against his shoulder.

“Just excited for the game I picked out.”

“Okay. Should we...wait in the living room?”

Daisuke realized he was kind of barricading Ken in his own bedroom and blushed, backing into the living room. “Yeah! I made sushi for everyone, by the way.”

The way Ken’s eyes lit up made Daisuke skip a beat. He followed Daisuke into the living room and spotted the already laid out game board.

“What is that?”

“Twister!” Daisuke cryptically said.

“How do you...play it?”

“I’ll explain when everyone gets here. Come on! Sit down and tell me how soccer’s been.”

Ken obediently sat and told Daisuke about his recent soccer match, but it apparently didn’t go well and he seemed embarrassed. He hadn’t scored a single goal. Daisuke told Ken about his own bad plays last year, standing up to gesture out a particularly bad spill he’d taken and earning Ken’s melodic laughter.

“I’ve actually...been painting a lot more.” Ken pivoted the conversation.

“You gotta show me some time, you know.”

“They’re not ready for that yet. Maybe they never will.” Ken ducked his head.

“Hey.” Daisuke took Ken’s chin in his hand. “I’m sure they’re beautiful. Just like -“

He cut himself off, awkwardly hanging in the air in front of Ken. He was saved by the arrival of the rest of the Chosen.

Daisuke set out the sushi on the table that had currently been pushed up against the wall to make room for his game board.

“I’ve got salmon, yellowtail and tuna.” He set down the platters and carefully stepped around Hikari, who took a plate and some serving chopsticks. He grabbed Ken’s elbow and stopped him from also swarming the slight buffet-style setup. “Got something special for you in the kitchen.”

He pulled out the small amount of fatty tuna pieces, as much as he could afford, and held it out to Ken.

“Wow...Daisuke, this is...too much.”

“I know how much you like it.”

Ken blushed and stuck a piece in his mouth, licking his fingers with an orgasmic look on his face. Daisuke fanned himself with the front of his shirt.

“Are you okay, Daisuke?”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll just go turn up the fans, summer am I right?”

Daisuke bounded back into the living room and picked up a couple pieces of sushi for himself, taking the arm rest on the end of the couch.

Takeru was discussing the latest test results. “I thought that one complex plane problem was really unfair. Did anyone get it right?”

Daisuke certainly hadn’t. He checked out of the conversation entirely, waiting to finally explain the game to everyone, but Miyako got ahead of him.

“So are we really gonna play Twister?”

“Yeah! I thought it would be fun!”

Miyako crossed her legs and touched her chin with one finger. “Six people is a lot for one mat.”

“We could do a tournament style! Either 3v3 or Jogress partners in teams,” Takeru said.

Why not both? Let’s start with the individual battles.”

Hikari borrowed a piece of scrap paper from Daisuke’s room and she and Takeru created a bracket for their tourney - randomized of course. Miyako, Iori and Daisuke stepped up to the mat, with Hikari controlling the wheel and judging.

“Ready?” She spun the first round. “Left hand blue.”

Daisuke placed his hand aggressively across the board. He had to win so he could play the final round with Ken. Miyako was mirrored from him and had to reach down at a much more awkward angle. Yes.

“Right foot red.”

Daisuke took a backward step as Iori shifted his foot one circle over and Miyako evened out.

“C’mon, you guys! Start getting tangled up together.” Takeru called from the peanut gallery.

“We’ll get there when we get there!” Daisuke shouted between his twisted legs.

“Right foot green.”

Daisuke untwisted himself to reach across the board as Miyako was forced to turn totally away from the center. Iori was practically in the splits.

If he could just block any more free movement from Iori he could totally make him fall over. Daisuke went on the offensive the next few calls, trying to cut Iori off from safe spots. He managed to force Iori to bend backwards instead of forwards and he fell on his ass the next move.

“Hah! I’ve got this round.” Miyako laughed even as she contorted into what could not be a comfortable position.

“No way Miyako,  _ I’m _ gonna win.” Daisuke taunted back as they both tried to put their right hand on the same yellow spot.

“I totally got there first! Hikari-chan, tell him!”

Hikari narrowed her eyes and stared at their close hands. “I’m gonna have to give this one to Miyako-chan, Daisuke-kun.”

Of course Hikari took Miyako’s side. Daisuke took the spot next to her. A few more moves and Daisuke was practically twisted around Miyako, still hanging on.

This sucked. It should be Ken all tangled up with him. At least Daisuke could hear Ken’s soft laughter along with the other spectators. He managed to block Miyako from a good red spot, and she balanced precariously on her side.

“How are you so good at this?” He snarled.

“Girls just have  _ flexibility _ , Daisuke-kun.”

“I’m not sure you stand a chance, Daisuke.” Ken’s smirk was obvious in his voice.

Now he had to win. “I’ll show you!”

In the end, Daisuke made one fatal error - and slipped and fell to the floor with a thud. He wallowed in the misery for a little bit, until Ken’s shadow fell over him.

“It was a good try.” Ken held out his hand and Daisuke took it, getting pulled to his feet.

“I really wanted to win.”

“You almost did. I was really impressed how you gave Miyako and her gymnastics a run for her money.”

Daisuke blushed, just a little. It wasn’t as good as winning, but it would do.

Takeru, Hikari and Ken took their places on the mat, Ken the unlucky on in the middle. Iori, as first out, was designated spinner, while Miyako demanded to be the judge. That left Daisuke able to spend the whole round watching Ken as he bent over, planting his hands on the floor, twisted his legs, and at one point folded over his own arms to reach a green spot. He was crazy flexible, probably from the Judo that he still dabbled in. He wasn’t in any major competitions, but he had found a purely for-fun circle that met once or twice a month he occasionally went to.

Daisuke always wondered how Ken had time to  _ do _ everything he did. Probably because he wasn’t wasting it all with video games like Daisuke.

Takeru fell first, unable to place his left foot on a yellow spot while his right was forced to stay on red, and he nearly took out Ken with him. Daisuke couldn’t believe  _ Takeru _ was getting to be closer to Ken than him in this game. Ken’s laughter rung off the walls, and he was chuckling so bad he messed himself up, leaving Hikari the victor of the second heat.

Ken flopped beside Daisuke on the couch, still chuckling a bit as Hikari and Miyako took their place for the final, Takeru offering to spin and judge. The sweat clung to Ken’s brow as he flashed Daisuke a dazzling smile.

“Having fun?”

Ken leaned into his side, flushed and warm. “Lots of fun. Thanks for picking a great game.”

“I thought you might like it. I really want to play a round  _ with _ you, though.”

“That’s what the Jogress tourney is for.”

They were distracted from their conversation by shouts and yells from the mat, where Hikari and Miyako had managed to braid their arms and legs together. Hikari’s face was shoved  _ very _ close to Miyako’s crotch, and they were both laughing so much their arms were shaking.

“What happens when  _ both _ of you lose?” Takeru spun the wheel. “Put your right leg on red, by the way.”

Hikari tried to twist under Miyako to get at a red spot while giggling uncontrollably and slipped, falling beneath her.

“Yes!” Miyako jumped up. “I’m the winner!”

“Good job, Miyako-san.” Ken golf clapped along with the rest of the group.

“Yeah! Hikari-chan and I are going to crush the rest of you!”

They switched to everyone getting a different color and appendage combination for the 2v2 game, Daisuke and Ken against the reigning champ Miyako and Hikari.

“We’re gonna take you down.” Daisuke glared across the board at Miyako.

Ken merely gave a long-suffering sigh and shot Hikari an apologetic look.

Maybe Daisuke played his moves to try and keep Ken and Hikari apart. He wasn’t jealous. It was just strategy in the game. Plus Ken had already told him they were just friends.

“Oof!” Ken fell over while Daisuke wasn’t paying attention, and Daisuke hadn’t even gotten to get tangled up with him. He tried not to be too disappointed.

Or get thrashed too badly by both Miyako and Hikari. That part of his plan didn’t go so great.

“That’s one win for the unstoppable duo!” Takeru handed the spinner off to Hikari. 

“We’re up against you and Ichijouji-kun next,” Iori said.

Round two. Daisuke finally got what he wanted, this game lasting quite a bit longer than the first, several movies in and with his hand between Ken’s legs none of them had fallen yet.

Daisuke wouldn’t even mind if Ken fell and took him out right now though. Instead, he vaulted his leg over Daisuke and into Takeru’s space, almost tipping him over.

“You play dirty, Ichijouji-kun.”

“Maybe I do.” Ken smirked.

Daisuke’s next move didn’t let him get in between Ken and Takeru, which was really quite unfortunate. He did manage to block Iori from his next move, sending him toppling over, and then turned his attention to breaking up Ken and Takeru’s little battle. 

He overbalanced. Daisuke’s arms gave out and he toppled into Ken, landing on top of him in an undignified heap.

“Ugh, I feel like we just came back from the digital world.” Ken rubbed his head, smiling.

The final battle was Hikari and Miyako vs. Takeru and Iori, which was just fine for Daisuke. He was done with this game. It was annoying to feel jealous, especially of  _ Takeru _ of all people. He’d gotten over that ages ago, it was not allowed to come back.

He slid next to Ken on the couch. “Sorry about losing.”

Ken smiled. “The important thing is we had fun. Plus I enjoyed watching you.”

Daisuke chuckled and looked away. Damn that was a good line, why hadn’t he thought of it? Ken probably didn’t even mean it like he would have.

Ken was distracted being the spinner and judge, leaving Daisuke to lounge and think. He was starting to second guess saying anything to Ken tonight. He didn’t want to make things weird, especially since Ken couldn’t leave and go home easily if he...said no. Which he probably would. Ken was so smart and sweet and Daisuke was. Daisuke.

“Yeah! Suck it, Iori!” Miyako shouted before getting admonished by her Jogress partner for being a sore winner.

The night winded down Daisuke hovered next to Ken, shooting glances at him, catching his eye every once in a while. Ken quirked a brow at him, a wordless question he didn’t know the answer to.

Ken pounced when they were alone.

“Are you...okay, Daisuke?”

“Of course! I’m always fine.”

“Daisuke.” Ken leveled him with a concerned glare. “Talk to me?”

“I...did you really like the game I picked?”

“Of course I did. It was nice to do something physical, to just. Turn my brain off for a bit.”

“Heh. That’s my speciality.”

Ken frowned, just a little. “You always seem to be thinking to me.”

“That’s crazy -“ Ken grabbed his hands.

“You’re always thinking of me, Daisuke. You got my favorite kind of sushi, and you picked out this game for me, and I loved it, and thank you.”

Daisuke tried not to hyperventilate.

“You’re my  _ best friend _ , Daisuke, and I’ll always be here for you if you need to talk.”

Best friend. That was enough. That was what Ken needed from him. “I’m here for you too, Ken.”


	5. Diplomacy

The giant pot of broth simmered on Daisuke’s stovetop. Fresh broth was always the best, plus he would be able to use the leftovers the rest of the week. He’d already cooked and taken out some pork to cool and cut into chashu slices, and was currently slicing up ginger.

He’d been practicing hard at all the different kinds of ramen, and tonight it was going to be shoyu. One of his favorites, since really all you had to do special was slice up some ginger and throw together the soy sauce, sake and mirin in a saucepan. Super easy.

He left that to boil as he drained the broth to save his pork bones for another day.

The smell wafted up from his sink and he reveled in the umami flavoring, putting the filtered bones away for another day and tossing the cooked out garlic heads.

This was gonna be great. He had plenty of time to put away the extras and get together six bowls for everyone.

Daisuke hoped the game Takeru was bringing would be fun, and maybe hoped he and Ken could be a team. As they started playing harder and harder games Daisuke found it hard to keep up, sure he won sometimes, but having Ken by his side felt nice. Comfortable.

The ingredients were all placed in front of him, and he began to put together the bowls in an assembly line. Shoyu, broth, noodles, stir. Put in toppings. Finished. Ramen had become second nature to him.

Six bowls sat on the counter and Daisuke nodded once. Perfect. Now he could put away the extra.

Ken arrived in the middle of Daisuke portioning out his meal prep.

“Can I help?”

“Welllll,” Daisuke drawled, “I suppose it’s just pouring broth in containers. Hard to mess that up.”

“I’m not  _ that _ bad in the kitchen, jerk.” Ken gave him a good-natured push and helped put away the rest of the extra food and clean up. He picked up and washed a saucepan, precise and determined.

Daisuke should be helping, but he was mostly staring. Ken looked so nice puttering around in his kitchen, domestic. He would make a great housewife, except for the total lack of cooking skills. Daisuke could bring those anyway.

Not that Ken would want to live like that, or be Daisuke’s, or anything about this train of thought Daisuke should really get off.

“What kind of ramen did you make today?” Ken’s face fell. “You didn’t  _ experiment _ , did you?”

Daisuke guffawed. “No, I only make  _ you _ eat that. Totally normal today, Ken, you’re safe.”

Ken’s hair swayed in front of his face and Daisuke itched to run his fingers through it, so he did. Ken was blushing and something felt fragile in the air.

The bell rang. Daisuke reluctantly pulled away from Ken and answered for Takeru, Iori and Miyako.

“It’s World War One,  _ not _ two!” Takeru waved a box in the air emphatically.

“Okay, okay, I guess Germany isn’t the obvious bad guy then.” Miyako took off her shoes, shooting a short wave at Daisuke but otherwise not acknowledging him.

“What did you bring, Takeru-kun?” Ken popped his head out of the kitchen.

“Diplomacy! I think you’ll like it a lot, Ken-kun.”

Ken nodded. Daisuke bristled. Ken liked  _ his _ games, too, even though they weren’t some dumb war simulation with too many rules. Takeru had a real streak going with his choices.

Once Hikari showed up, Daisuke set down the ramen bowls.

“You’re getting really good at this, Daisuke. Might actually be able to open that ramen shop after all.” Takeru slurped up a big bite of noodles.

“Of course I will-“

“Of course he will,” Ken said at the same time, and they both blushed and averted their gaze.

“Aren’t you two only supposed to do that while Jogressing?” Hikari used her hand to cover her titters.

Daisuke only shrugged, tucking into his ramen.

Pretty good. Could be a bit thicker, he should think about adding some bones to his collection, they might be going dry.

“This is definitely restaurant-quality, Daisuke...kun.” Iori piped up.

“Naaah, you’re laying it on too thick, you guys.”

“Really! It’s great!” Miyako added.

“You’re an amazing cook.” Ken leaned against him and he blushed profusely.

“Anyway, tell us about this game, Takeru!” He veered the conversation away from his cooking.

“It’s called Diplomacy. Basically we’re going to be one of each of the major powers in Europe just before World War One, and make our own moves and diplomatic ties to try and take over Europe.”

Daisuke sat back, ready for the long-winded explanation about a ton of units and weird cards and maybe even some special dice, but Takeru pulled out a simple game board and a bunch of pieces of paper that appeared to just be copies of said board, along with a handful of wooden squares and triangles.

“Oh, we might need extra paper too, that cool, Daisuke?”

“Yeah, I got a ton of scrap paper.” Mostly old tests he briefly looked at and then squirreled away, stuffed into corners.

“So this game is actually really easy to play, but I fear....some friendships may be broken tonight.” Takeru ominously declared.

Daisuke just snorted.

Takeru explained the basics. Everyone started in their respective country with two armies and one boat, ties did nothing, and one could totally lie about what they were going to do in the actual turn to screw the person expecting you to help. That did sound brutal.

And they were  _ definitely _ going to need more paper if they had to write down what everybody did each round.

Daisuke picked France, maybe just to piss Takeru off. Plus Ken was right next to him as Germany, and he could count on Ken to keep his promises of help. Iori seemed very far away as Russia, while Miyako took Turkey, Takeru England, and Hikari Austria. Italy was neutral since they didn’t have a seventh.

The first thirty minutes was apparently just talking about what they were going to do in the round, who was going to ally with who.

“So Ken, who else should we get on our team?”

“What makes you think I’m automatically on your team?” Ken’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Duh we are!”

“All’s fair in war, Daisuke. I’m here to win.”

Daisuke was  _ pretty _ sure Ken was kidding. He just had to look tough in front of the others, they could hash things out in private. Daisuke, in fact, pulled Takeru aside and into his room.

“I know we’re mortal enemies, Takeru, but I think we can help each other here.”

“It’s not a role-playing game, dude, you don’t have to pretend we’re  _ actually _ England and France.”

Daisuke cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“That  _ is _ what you meant, right? England and France being mortal enemies?”

“Of course!” Daisuke lied. “Anyway, I think we can get into a good position to surround Miyako and I’ll even let you have Spain and a bit of Italy to do it, just leave those little places near me and Ken alone.”

“Hmm, I dunno...”

“I know you’re gonna work with Hikari anyway, we can help each other out.”

Takeru and Daisuke eventually found an accord and returned to the living room, where Ken was also back from his discussion with Miyako and Hikari. He smiled at Daisuke as he sat back down.

“Alright, everybody ready to write their first moves?”

They all spent a few minutes scribbling, and in the end the moves surprised Daisuke. Ken was pushing north, which made sense, but also west. It was kind of the only place for him to go in the middle there, though. Daisuke moved towards Italy, anyways.

Iori aggressively moved towards both Ken and Miyako, which was weird. He was expecting Miyako and Iori to be allied together, especially since they were both in the east.

The game rapidly went downhill from there. Daisuke never really got anybody wholly on his side, and Ken really  _ wasn’t _ working with him, focused on whatever alliance he’d made with Hikari. Daisuke couldn’t help but feel like Takeru was using him, as well.

Hikari’s empire just kept growing. She and Miyako had  _ crushed _ Iori, and he had been pushed totally off of his original Russian spaces.

And then Ken promised to help him, and instead attacked. Daisuke’s meager holdings fell apart, taken over by Ken’s German forces.

Daisuke ran into his room and locked the door.

“Daisuke?” Ken called from outside his door, knocking softly. “Are you okay?”

Daisuke could barely hear Takeru. “We’re going to head out. Call us if you need help with Daisuke?”

He didn’t need  _ help _ . He needed to not get stabbed in the back by Ken.

“Can we talk?”

Daisuke stomped over and unlocked his door, wrenching it open. “How could you do that?”

“We were just playing?”

“You stabbed me in the back! We’re supposed to be friends, Ken!”

Ken looked like he was going to throw up. “We are friends. We are friends. Daisuke, I -“

“You  _ what _ ?”

“...it was supposed to just be a  _ game _ .” Ken began crying. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry. I didn’t mean it. I thought it was a game and I’m so  _ sorry _ I’ll do anything please -“ Ken collapsed into nonsense babbling.

Daisuke really overreacted to a game, but Ken was  _ really _ overreacting to his overreaction. It made Daisuke feel uncomfortable and asshole-ish.

“I - it was just a game. I’m being a jerk, I’m sorry, please stop crying.”

Ken did not stop. At least he’d stopped continuously babbling about how sorry he was.

“Please don’t hate me again,” Ken whispered into his cupped hands.

“I could never hate you, Ken.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t - look, I know how competitive you get, it’s actually really cute most of the time, stop apologizing.”

“I should have just allied with you from the start, we’re partners, I shouldn’t have -“

“I’m an idiot and even I know that’s not how the game worked. You were playing it right.”

Ken stopped crying, finally. “Don’t say that.”

“What?”

“You aren’t an idiot.”

Daisuke arched an eyebrow. “I am -“

“Daisuke, you are the most emotionally intelligent person I know, and you constantly put up with my bullshit, and I won’t stand here and let you bully yourself because  _ I’m _ upset about something that was  _ my fault _ .”

At least Ken wasn’t crying anymore.

“You - you have every right to be mad at me.” Ken finished, his arms falling to his sides.

“No I don’t. Come on, uh, sit down.” Daisuke led Ken to his bed and they sat side by side.

After too long, Ken finally spoke again.

“I don’t think that was a very good game for us to play.”

“It sucked. We need to rein in Takeru’s choices.” Daisuke joked back onto solid conversational ground.

Ken entwined their fingers. “We should stick to team games.”

“Being on your team is nice, but I really do like when you get competitive. I’d miss it if we didn't at least play against each other sometimes.”

Ken scooted closer and Daisuke’s head hit his shoulder. He burrowed into the cuddle, drifting off at some point.


	6. Warhammer 40k

_ I’m ready to show you my painting _

Ken’s simple text had Daisuke rushing toward the train to Tamachi, tapping his foot rapidly as he waited for the trains and finally running full sprint up to Ken’s apartment door.

Ken’s eyes widened as he answered. “That was fast.”

“I’m just excited! Show me what you’ve been working on.”

Ken led Daisuke to his bedroom and knelt down to the bottom drawer of his shelving. “They’re not very good.”

“I’m sure they’re perfect.”

The drawer opened, revealing hundreds of tiny figures painted in an array of colors. Daisuke expected canvasses, tasteful watercolors and abstract shapes, not. This.

“What do you think?”

“What are they?” Daisuke picked up a large tank, painted a bright shining blue with some sort of symbol on the front he didn’t recognize. There were flecks of gold that made it look like there was a star field on it. “This is beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Ken murmured. “They’re for this game, actually. I’ve never...played it with anyone else. I don’t know anybody who likes it.”

Daisuke looked in the drawer, seeing there were two sides. One had big armored guys with big guns, slightly grungy tanks, and a couple of gundam-looking robots. The other side could only be described as terrifying clawed aliens, and he spotted a large one with a familiar color scheme.

“Is that Paildramon?”

Ken blushed. “Yeah, I painted the hive tyrant to look like them.”

Daisuke reverently picked it up, turning the scary-looking creature this way and that, admiring how Ken had seemingly painted on shadows to give the little model more dimension. It really made a perfect paildramon, especially the crest-helmet-thing. Ken appeared to have added a little star part to make it even closer to their partner.

“These are really amazing, Ken.”

“Thanks.”

“Will you show me how to play the game with them?”

Ken jumped. “You want to play with me?”

“Yeah!”

“But it’s...a fighting strategy game.”

“And you said you haven’t played much, right? We’ll be on kinda even ground!”

Ken launched into a long spiel about the two armies he’d made, something called space marines and tyranids. He went on and on about stats, defense, firepower, how you had to use an honest to goodness  _ tape measure _ to figure out how far your units moved each turn.

“And you’ve really never played this with anyone? But you know everything!”

“I’ve...just fought against myself. It. It scratches an itch I don’t like to acknowledge.”

“Let’s play then! How do we set it up?”

“First you pick which army you want.”

Daisuke chose the weird bugs, of course. Not only did it include paildramon, kinda, but Ken said they were more melee-oriented and that was always Daisuke’s style. He apparently got to set up his army in a little rectangle on the part of Ken’s floor he designated as the “table”, and maneuvering all the little figures so they stood up and came together as a cohesive group was a lot of fun. Who knew if it would be good for the actual fighting.

Ken had set out some blocks and tiny trees as well, creating a whole mini diorama on his floor.

“Is this terrain okay?”

Daisuke shrugged. It looked fine to him.

“Well, I guess we can start playing now.” Ken pulled out a box absolutely  _ full _ of dice. Just a ludicrous amount of dice.

“Are we gonna need that many?”

“Yes.” Ken looked at the floor, his cheeks red and adorable.

Daisuke suddenly had an idea. “Hey, Ken?”

Ken hmmed.

“How about we play a penalty game? Whoever loses has to answer a question, but totally drop it and never bring it up again if it’s a no.”

“That’s...oddly specific, Daisuke.”

“Whatever! Yes or no?”

Ken agreed, and they began. Daisuke went for aggressive, nearly entirely ignoring the trees in favor of charging right at Ken’s regimented rows of gunners. It wasn’t looking good at first, he lost a lot of his little guys in the initial spray of Ken’s guns, and Ken was totally right about needing all those dice.

But once he engaged in melee, things turned around. Daisuke didn’t realize just how much more powerful his units were once they charged, the numbers didn’t seem that much higher, but they  _ shredded _ Ken’s basic units. Paildramon tore apart one of Ken’s big robots.

Daisuke enjoyed playing general, ordering his army around from on high and coming up with strategies to try and outmaneuver Ken, who met him blow for blow, always one step ahead. Seeing Ken like this was always amazing, his face lit up as he strategized and considered, his tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.

Daisuke watched Ken’s mouth longer than he maybe should have.

In the end, most of both their armies had been destroyed and returned to the drawer as they were taken out of the game. Paildramon stood tall, a die next to him marking his wounds. They would make some cool scars, maybe Ken could add them in his painting.

“So round 6 ends the game, which means we tally up our victory points, but I think you’ve won.” Ken divided a sheet of paper in two, counting up his and Daisuke’s score.

Daisuke did, in fact, win.

“You get to ask your question now.” Ken sat back on his knees, waiting.

He swallowed and willed his tongue to work. “Can I kiss you?”

Ken froze. Oh no. That was bad, but he’d promised to forget it, they would be okay -

“Yes.”

Daisuke crawled in front of Ken, heart beating more and more rapidly as he bridged the distance between them. He could have sworn sparks literally flew when their lips finally connected, and Ken opened his mouth almost immediately, hands flying to Daisuke’s collar. Daisuke wasn’t expecting  _ that _ so much, but he didn’t complain and delved in with his tongue, Ken responding with enthusiasm.

At some point, Daisuke had to breathe, and he pulled away from Ken to pant. “Hey Ken?”

“Yes, Daisuke?” Ken panted back.

“We’re out of the penalty game.”

“We are.”

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes.”


End file.
